Chapter 350 Peeping
So, like, a bunch of times I wanted to ask him if he needed something from me, but I just couldn't do it 'cause I had no proof or whatever.
When the words "flatter" and "fawn" popped into my head, I just brushed 'em off. I mean, who'd wanna suck up to me? I'm just a teaching assistant 'cause Professor Evans needed a hand, not 'cause I'm anything special.
Especially now, with Adam sitting next to me, squinting at my phone screen with that cold smirk and mocking eyes. No way he liked me.
I thought, 'Adam doesn't like me, but he's always watching me? Or is he after something I haven't figured out yet? What could he possibly want from me?'
"Back off, or I'll smack you," I said, pretending to be all tough while I turned off my phone screen. I was seriously thinking about getting one of those privacy screen protectors.
Not many people are nosy, but it only takes one to be a pain.
I figured Adam would snap back at me, 'cause that was just how things had been between us lately. He'd been all moody and prickly, like anyone who got close would get hurt.
Weirdly, he just snorted, leaned against the car window, crossed his arms, and closed his eyes.
With no one bugging me, I started replying to Brad's messages one by one.
Basically, I was just telling him no one's gonna take advantage of me and showing my loyalty so he'd chill about my trip.
Brad finally calmed down and went back to his stuff.
I leaned back in my seat to rest, and suddenly remembered seeing Ryan all over some other chick a few days ago. I was so mad I wanted to tell Amelia right away, but Brad said that'd just hurt her. Amelia was crazy about Ryan, and finding out he liked someone else would crush her. Brad told me not to do anything rash.
But I always thought love was a two-way street. Amelia was always giving and not getting anything back; she was gonna get tired eventually. Plus, if the guy she loved was doing this behind her back, wasn't it better to break up sooner?
Brad kept telling me to think it over. He said everyone's love looked different; maybe Amelia knew about Ryan's actions and was okay with it. It was possible.
Even though I didn't wanna believe Amelia would put up with that, the way they acted at the last gathering made me think Brad might be right.
I knew Amelia liked Ryan, but accepting him seeing other women? No way.
Finally getting some space from Brad, I wanted to talk to Amelia and give her a heads-up.
I thought, 'We've been tight for over ten years; I can't just watch her get hurt and do nothing.'
Opening Amelia's chat, our last convo was during the holidays. I checked her New Feed, and it was wiped clean. She deleted everything, including all the posts about Ryan. Why?
Jane: [Hey Amelia, I'm leading a team to a competition and heading to Forest City. Heard the scenery's pretty dope. Wanna have a "chance" encounter?]
Amelia replied almost instantly, like she was waiting for my message.
Amelia: [A colleague of mine is from Forest City. She says it's like a natural oxygen bar, and the air's amazing this time of year. But I got work, so I can't make it.]
Jane: [I'll scope it out first. If it's as awesome as they say, we'll drag Lillian and have a blast there during the holidays.]
Amelia: [Six people?]
Jane: [Yeah, you, me, Lillian, and our boyfriends. That's six, right? Let's plan for winter break.]
Then, radio silence for a full five minutes.
Amelia's screen kept showing "typing," but no message came through.
I started feeling uneasy. It was like I could sense Amelia was sad.
Brad was right; Amelia probably knew, or at least wasn't completely clueless.
Amelia: [Let's talk about it later. Our girls' trips don't usually include guys.]
Jane: [True. By the way, Amelia, Ryan's pretty awesome. Did he get promoted?]
Amelia: [Yeah.]
I was making small talk, trying to steer the convo towards Ryan.
Jane: [Amelia, my project’s wrapping up soon, and I'll have a long break. You guys should come over, and I'll show you around. The Northern Institute of the Arts is too far, but Regalia's just a few hours' drive. If you still refuse, I'll be seriously bummed.]
Another long silence. The phone screen went dark; I pressed it on; it went dark again; I pressed it on again. After several tries, I finally heard the notification sound.
Amelia only replied with one sentence, but it hit me hard.
Amelia: [Ryan and I broke up; it was mutual.]
Even from miles away, I could picture Amelia biting her lip, holding back tears, trying to be strong.
Amelia, this self-deceiving fool, got hurt by Ryan and still defended him. Silly girl. She just hadn't met the right person yet.
Jane: [When did it happen?]
Amelia: [Four days ago.]
Four days ago? I couldn't tell if Ryan had a smooth transition or if he had already planned to betray Amelia.
I remembered Ryan's coldness with Amelia and his passion with that other woman. Love and indifference were clear as day. Ryan was such a jerk.
But Ryan, having lost a love like Amelia's, a love so rare and true, would never find its equal in this lifetime. When he finally realized this, how would he feel? I hoped he felt so terrible he wanted to die; otherwise, it wouldn't be fair to Amelia's love for him.
I typed and deleted messages on the screen, changing the content repeatedly, but I couldn't find the right words to comfort Amelia, who had put all her heart into Ryan.
"Is it that hard to send a message? You're usually so good at criticizing me." Adam, who had woken up at some point, glanced at my fingers with disdain, grabbed my phone without asking, and quickly sent a message.
By the time I snapped out of it and grabbed my phone back, the message had already been sent. After a bit of struggle, Amelia must have seen my reply, and there was no point in retracting it.
Jane: [Breaking up with a bad guy is the right move! Such a douchbag doesn't deserve you. Be brave and move forward; better guys are waiting for you.]
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
